How to Deal With Behavior Issues on the School Bus

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I am an elementary school administrator. I have five to ten students who cause major problems on one bus almost every day. We’ve tried suspensions. I’ve tried yelling. I’m out of ideas because I’m not on the bus with them. Is there anything I can do? -Kara, Manhattan, Kansas

Kara,

First, you can’t make this bus driver’s job a great job. He or she does not have the Behavioral Leadership strategies and procedures to calmly create a positive, pro-social environment on the bus. If you have difficult kids on your bus and you have no strategies, you have an impossible problem.

However, what you can do is make this bus driver's life significantly better by teaching students how to behave on the bus and by allowing these students to learn and practice the proper behaviors for the bus. After all, none of your students have a bus at home, so they may not know how to act on a bus.

Here’s how I would deal with six students and their corresponding six bus referrals as said students enter my office during a non-instructional time-- let’s say, in this case, after school.

Kid Whisperer: Ugh. Guys. Yikes. I tell you what. I think I owe you all a huge apology. I have been doing a lot of yelling at you and getting frustrated with you guys. I won’t do that anymore. I feel badly, as an educator, that I didn’t realize that you just don’t know how to act on a bus. I should not have assumed that you did and, again, I apologize.

Kid #1: What’s going on?

Kid #2: I, too, am wondering what is going on. Something seems askew.

Kid Whisperer: Instead of getting frustrated, I’m just going to lead some bus lessons for you all. I have set up a practice bus, and I am going to lead bus lessons using my practice bus. Here’s the practice bus.

(Kid Whisperer reveals a practice bus, eight chairs in four rows)

Kid #3: What in the world!?!

Kid Whisperer: Here’s how this is going to go. Your bus driver has chosen to suspend you all from the bus until you become experts at riding buses. This time after school is now your bus lesson time. According to your bus driver, you all lack two essential bus skills. One is sitting down, with the proper voice level and using proper language. The other is successfully walking to your assigned seats without causing problems.

Kid #4: This is stupid.

Kid Whisperer: Okay, how long do you all need to sit on the bus the right way, for 45 minutes or an hour?

Kid #4: I said THIS IS STUPID.

Kid Whisperer: An hour is fine.

Kid #s 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6: (to Kid #4) DUDE!!!

Kid Whisperer: We’ll get that first one done first, but let’s figure out how many times each of you need to practice walking to the correct assigned seat without causing a problem in order to show that you are experts. Do you need to do it 18 times or 47 times?

Kid #s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6: 18!!!!

Kid Whisperer: OK, let’s start with sitting the right way. Successful minutes are minutes during which you are being successful by using the right voice level, proper language, and are keeping your hands to yourselves. Feel free to read, do work, or draw. You can talk to each other if you’d like. Enjoy yourselves in any way that does not cause a bus problem! As soon as we are done with this, we’ll be able to do the second lesson. I will still like you guys no matter how long it takes you to learn this stuff.

This can be done during any non-instructional time. Teaching proper behavior tends to be more effective, and more enjoyable, than simply punishing kids.